Daeqwon Plowden
Plowden is a fringe rotation wing/forward whose path to minutes this season looks far tighter than the finish to his 2025-26 campaign suggested, after the Kings loaded up the frontcourt and bench during the offseason.
Role
Entering camp as a non-starter with no clear hold on a bench spot: a camp-based projection published October 3, 2026 after the Kings' first week of training camp lists the starting five as Darius Acuff Jr., Zach LaVine, De'Andre Hunter, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis, with the expected second unit being Ben Simmons, Malik Monk, Nique Clifford, Precious Achiuwa and Maxime Raynaud, a group that does not include Plowden. The Kings' preseason opener against the Lakers was scheduled for tonight, October 5, 2026 (checked October 5), so no exhibition-game line for him exists yet as of this check. He carries no injury designation.
He earned a standard two-year, $5.1 million contract in July 2026 off the strength of a strong finish to last season, and a July 2, 2026 report on his signing notes he averaged 10.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 26.4 minutes over 32 games with Sacramento, with his best stretch coming late in the year. If injuries open rotation minutes the way they did last season, he has a track record of producing when given run.
A preview piece published around September 25, 2026, before or right as camp opened, flagged Plowden as the most likely player to fall out of the Kings' rotation this season given the crowded frontcourt. The post-Week-1 camp projection from October 3, 2026 backs that up by omitting him from both the starting five and the expected second unit, with Simmons, Monk, Clifford, Achiuwa and Raynaud all ahead of him for bench minutes.
Where analysts split
Whether Plowden cracks the regular-season rotation at all this season. The case for him rests on last season's finish and his new standard contract; the case against is the actual camp-based depth projection from October 3, 2026, which places five other bench players ahead of him. This is not a disagreement among analysts so much as a preseason prediction (the September piece) being overtaken by what camp has actually shown so far.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at SF
Fantasy Memo reads your league and answers that every Monday, and checks your lineup on the days you play.
Connect your league: 14 days free